Mila Zhou, Open Source Program Manager at AWS, discusses how strategic funding transforms open source security. Key topics include the Alpha-Omega initiative's approach to supporting both high-profile and long-tail critical projects, the outsized impact of dedicated full-time security engineers (like PyPI's security engineer who reduced malware response time from days to under a minute), the Valkey community fork as a model of open source collaboration, and how the OpenSSF Ambassador Program bridges the gap between developers and security experts. The conversation also covers the importance of non-code contributions — marketing, community building, and clear communication — in sustaining open source ecosystems.
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